Australian rules football legend Barrie Robran dies aged 77

Australian rules football champion and Hall of Fame legend Barrie Robran has died at the age of 77.

Robran is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers South Australia has produced.

His list of honours includes three Magarey Medals and two SANFL premierships, and he was a seven-time North Adelaide best-and-fairest winner.

Robran played 201 games for North Adelaide from 1967 to 1980 and 17 matches for South Australia’s state side, including as captain.

North Adelaide has paid an emotional tribute to Robran, describing him as “certainly the most revered son of our beloved Roosters”, and an “an icon, a mentor, and a true gentleman whose presence enriched everyone around him”.

“It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that we share the devastating news of the sudden passing of North Adelaide Football Club legend, Barrie Robran,” the club said in a statement.

A statue depicting Robran leaping for a mark, which was unveiled outside Adelaide Oval in 2014, today became something of a spontaneous shrine.

Following news of the 77-year-old’s passing, his bronze likeness was bedecked with a North Adelaide scarf, and flowers appeared at the base of the plinth.

Roosters CEO Craig Burton said that, when it came to determining Robran’s place in the pantheon of the game’s greats, it was his club’s view that there was no contest.

“Sure, you’ll get an argument from people in Victoria … but he was definitely right up there.

“Physically, he had the attributes. Mentally, that’s pretty obvious as well — you don’t win three Magarey Medals and seven best-and-fairests without the right attitude.”

Robran is survived by his wife Taimi and two sons, Jonathon and Matthew, both of whom played in the AFL — the latter as a dual premiership player with Adelaide.

Port Adelaide assistant and North Adelaide 2018 premiership coach Josh Carr remembered Robran as a man whose humility was his defining characteristic.

“He was probably the nicest man you’d ever meet,” he said.

“It’s a sad day for Australian football.”

The AFL has expressed similar sentiment, with CEO Andrew Dillon describing the occasion as a “terribly sad day” for South Australia’s footballing community.

“Barrie Robran was the outstanding player in a time when the game was built around state pride, and testing yourselves at a state level against the best from around the country,” he said in a statement.

The league said Robran was “universally regarded across South Australia as the finest footballer the state has produced in its history across the past 150 years”.

Dillon said Robran’s opponents were often left marvelling “at his ability to play both on the ball and at centre half-forward with aplomb”.

“Those who watched him, and played with and against him, talk of his complete skill-set as an elite high-mark, two-sided with both hand and foot, courageous, one-touch when gathering the ball and an elite football IQ,” he said.

“Barrie will be deeply missed and remembered as one of the very greatest the game has produced in Australia, and we send our best wishes to all the Robran family in this difficult time.”

‘Wouldn’t change any of that’

Robran was born in 1947 in Whyalla where he attended Whyalla South Primary School and Whyalla Technical High School.

He hailed from what would become a highly decorated sporting family — his brother also played for North Adelaide, and his sister was, he said, “the unheralded champion of the family. She was an all-Australian netball captain”.

“We had a very humble upbringing in Whyalla,” Robran told ABC Radio Adelaide during an interview in 2000.

“But I’m sure, given the opportunity, we wouldn’t change any of that.”

At age 17, Robran began work for BHP which then ran the regional city’s shipyards and steelworks.

He showed early sporting prowess not just as a footballer, but also as a cricketer, basketballer and table tennis player.

He was playing A-grade football for North Whyalla in the Spencer Gulf League when he was recruited by North Adelaide, making his senior debut against Sturt in 1967.

Robran achieved his Magarey Medals in 1968, 1970 and 1973, and it was during that time that he played an instrumental role in North Adelaide’s premiership seasons in 1971 and 1972.

“Barrie was more than just a footballer,” club president Kris Mooney said.

“His legacy will forever inspire us, and his quiet grace touched everyone he met. We are incredibly proud to call him one of our own.”

Among many stand-out games was his best-on-ground performance during the Championship of Australia match against Carlton in 1972.

Two years later, while captaining South Australia, Robran sustained a career-altering knee injury in an incident involving Leigh Matthews that “cruelly curtailed” his playing days.

“As the years have gone by I’ve often thought, ‘Had that have not happened…’,” Robran reflected in 2000.

“My ambition in football was always to play until I was 40 at some appropriate level where I could play and not embarrass myself.”

Robran is said to have turned down repeated offers to play in the VFL, and in 1996 became the first South Australian inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

In 2001, he was elevated to legend status.

“Robran had speed, agility, lightning reflexes, a magnificent leap and an uncanny ability to read the game better than those around him,” the North Adelaide website states.

“Those who were lucky enough to see him play were awestruck by his brilliant performances.”

Tributes have poured in for Robran from friends and old foes alike.

Port Adelaide grandee John Cahill said South Australians who had watched football during the 1970s had been treated to the spectacle of two great rivals in action.

“We’ve been fortunate to see two absolute champions of our game in Barrie Robran and Russell Ebert,” Cahill said.

“When I think of Barrie, I think of Russell. They were humble, talented and most of all, just wonderful people.”

Ebert, who died in 2021, and Robran enjoyed a long friendship after football.

The SANFL expressed its condolences to Robran’s family in a statement acknowledging his extensive achievements.

“A true legend in South Australian footy, and a true gentleman, Barrie was highly respected by everyone who came to know him, as well as the broader football community who had the opportunity to see him play,” SA Football Commission chair Rob Kerin said.

“Barrie was a champion of our game.”